Monsignor Farrell is having a subpar season, but to Xavier, the Lions represent a tradition-rich program, and a good showing against such a program is always a feather in a team's cap. No player was more aware of that than Seamus Kelly, the Xavier running back who has chewed up Double-A opponents the past two years. But there were still doubts about how well Kelly and the Knights would do against one of the league’s top-tier clubs. The critics are pretty quiet today. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound senior rushed for 323 yards and scored all of the visiting Knights’ points in a 30-27 CHSFL AA quarterfinal victory Saturday in rainy Oakwood. Xavier advances to play Holy Trinity (a quarterfinal winner over St. Peter’s), while Farrell will face the Eagles in a consolation contest next week. “This is an amazing experience. A lot of people didn’t think we’d be able to do this,” said Kelly, who rolled over previous Island squads St. Peter’s (202 yards, three TDs) and Moore Catholic (135 yards, two TDs) earlier this season. “I guess we’re legit now, to win against a very credible program like Farrell,” added Xavier coach Chris Stevens, who adopted the old New Dorp/Sal Somma single-wing offense two years ago. “We weren’t a very good A program a few years ago. But last year we went 9-1 and beat AA champion Fordham Prep on Thanksgiving. That win was a major stepping stone for us. This year, it’s the Farrell game.” The Lions took the lead 12 seconds into the contest when Billy Dawson returned the opening kickoff 87 yards for a 6-0 lead. But the Knights marched 80 yards in nine plays for an 8-6 advantage, capped by the first of Kelly’s four TD runs and three conversion carries. Farrell turned to its ground game to recapture the lead. Jonathan Mezzacappa, who gained 167 yards rushing in his first career start in last week’s win against Chaminade, had a 127-yard effort yesterday. And he combined with Marco Boshnack (a 43-yard jaunt followed by a 3-yard TD carry) to put the Lions ahead 14-8. It took Xavier five runs —four by Kelly, including a 35-yard TD tote that saw the senior burst up the middle then veer right before cutting it back to the left and striking paydirt — to go back on top to stay, 16-14, with 2:31 left in the first half. “Seeing the field is my biggest asset,” said Kelly, who is considering several Ivy and Patriot League schools. “I may not have Division-I speed, but I can see the field as well as anyone.” “You do have D-I speed; you just don’t have D-I height,” said Stevens to his star. “Maybe after today, you’ll get more looks.” On the fourth play of the second half, Kelly produced a carbon-copy TD run from 32 yards out. And after Mezzacappa answered with a 7-yard score, Kelly barreled in from 3 yards for a 30-21 Xavier lead with 2:40 left in the third quarter. The Lions held Kelly to only 17 yards in the final period, and closed to within 30-27 on Jonathan Derbyshire’s 43-yard TD toss to James Pizzo with 2:45 remaining, but didn’t recover an ensuing onside kick and never got the ball back. “It’s the same stuff (as New Dorp’s single wing), though they have a lot more variety on offense than we did,” said Farrell coach Ben Sarullo, a two-way lineman and renowned captain for Somma. “Kelly’s a tremendous running back, but we didn’t tackle him very well in the first half. I take the blame for this loss. My defense wasn’t adequate for this running attack. I blew it.”